Honors Students Obtain Prestigious Archer Fellowship

The Archer Fellowship Program program gives students from any UT System school the opportunity to intern full-time in Washington, DC. Archer fellows get working experience in public service as they complete their studies. Out of nine students

selected from UTA for the program, two of them are Honors students, Jaycee Weber and Maranda Spencer.

As a public relations senior and president of University Democrats, Jaycee said living and working in DC is her career goal. She hopes the program will help her achieve that dream.

“Just having that opportunity to be there will prepare me for a job and my future in political communications,” she said.

Being part of the Honors College was key to her success. The rigorous academic courses gave her an edge in the competitive application process. Now she’ll take the lessons she learned from her Honors courses and apply them to her professional career.

“The Honors College definitely helped me to prepare for the real world and for the future where I’ll be working in a job where I have to use the skills I learned in the classroom,” said Jaycee.

Maranda, political science junior, hopes to one day work in litigation. She said the opportunity wouldn’t have been available to her if it weren’t for the community support and financial help from the Honors College.

“The main reason I’m able to do 99% of the things that I’m able to do is because the Honors College is what’s paying for me to do these things, “ she said. “The fact that I have so many scholarship opportunities from the Honors College is the main thing that I’ve gained.”

Mayo Clinic Fellow Recalls Honors Student Life

Alumnus Tijani Osumah came to the Honors College for the financial opportunities but ended up with so much more by the time he graduated.

Tijani (or TJ, as his friends know him) graduated with a double bachelor’s in biochemistry and bioengineering in 2013. Now, he works as a research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

TJ had always been interested in research. While at UTA, he worked as a researcher in the chemistry department and received numerous scholarships and accolades, including the University Scholar Award.

Back when he first arrived at UTA as an international student, TJ was motivated to join the Honors College for the scholarships to help pay for school, but along the way, he gained inspiration and long-lasting friendships from a small but driven community.

He said the challenge of Honors Courses and the professors that facilitated them gave him the diligence to work in his desired field. It was also the friendships he forged that gave him the resilience to reach his goals.

“I happened to meet probably the most motivated people on the entire campus,” he said. “Just when you think you are working hard and you’re doing all the things that you should then you meet these guys that are working even harder and going even further.”

TJ always felt like he needed to keep up with his fellow classmates even as he made big strides in his academic career.

“They all carry you along and you end up becoming great friends and awesome support system,” he said. “I still maintain many of those relationships.”

TJ earned his MD at Ross University School of Medicine in 2017.

Honors Newsletter Editor Says Goodbye

Veneratio newsletter editor Pablo Arauz Peña didn’t expect to get a job at the Honors College when he first applied for the position before the Fall 2016 semester. He had just transferred from another school and wasn’t an honors student. But he already had plenty of real-world experience previously working as an intern for NPR affiliate KERA and various local publications including D Magazine, Dallas Observer, and The Fort Worth Weekly. So, he applied anyway.

When he got the job, Pablo had some big ideas. Working under the supervision of Dr. Tim Henry and Dr. Kevin Gustafson, he revamped the college’s digital newsletter, improved the college’s social media presence and, along the way, shared fascinating stories of the brilliant students, faculty, and staff in Honors community. He also created the UTA Honors Blog, one of the most active blogs under the new Mavs Blog network.

With the help and support of the Honors College, Pablo gained plenty of opportunities for his journalism career. He obtained a news internship with The Society of Professional Journalists at the 2017 Excellence in Journalism news conference in Anaheim, California.

With the connections he made there, he brought a Google News Initiative event to the campus with the SPJ UTA chapter. Along with graduating with the class of Spring 2018, he received an honorary certificate for Outstanding Achievement from The Department of Communication.